Dedicated to the Intellectual Brutality of Stanford Football

Oregon Ducks

10/15/2017

Once upon a time the Stanford-Oregon game was prime real estate in the television world, almost always landing in the coveted 5:00 PM Pacific time slot on ABC or even a Thursday night prime time broadcast on ESPN. Things have changed. The game that seemed to decide the Pac-12 North on an annual basis was wished into the cornfield by the Pac-12's broadcast partners, pushed onto a fringe channel and given the latest start time in the continental United States. Viewers (and Heisman voters) on the East Coast could've watched Saturday Night Live, then flipped over to watch the second half. They probably didn't, though, and that's a shame, because the Cardinal certainly made a statement.

10/13/2017

The Oregon Ducks were once the gold standard in the Pac-12 -- the West Coast's best hope for a national championship and the only program west of the SEC, aside from USC, that could realistically promote a player for the Heisman Trophy. But after master builder Chip Kelly left for the NFL in 2012, the program maintained its dominance for only two years under Mark Helfrich before dipping a bit in 2015 (9-4) and plummeting to 4-8 in 2016, Oregon's lowest win total since 1991.

With the expectations being as high as the Nike dollar is strong, the reaction in Eugene was swift. Helfrich was dismissed, and he was replaced with Willie Taggart, the one-time running backs coach on Jim Harbaugh's Stanford staff who went on to moderate success as the head coach at Western Kentucky before turning around the South Florida program, going from 2-10 in 2013 to 10-2 in 2016.

The Taggart Era got off to a controversial start at Oregon when three football players were hospitalized after what were described as overly strenuous off-season workouts that seemed straight from the 1940s. One of Taggart's stated goals upon his arrival was to instill a tougher attitude, and apparently he and his strength and conditioning coach went about this by having players do non-stop push-ups and up-downs for more than an hour.

11/13/2015

Stanford has an obvious traditional rival across the Bay and a manufactured rivalry, complete with a trophy, with the team from South Bend, but since 2010 the most important and most anticipated game on the schedule has always been Oregon.

Stanford and Oregon have been the two best teams in the conference during those six years, with Stanford's 62-14 mark only slightly bettered by Oregon's 66-11. Since the conference expanded in 2011 to become the new Pac-12, the winner of the game between the two schools has always won the Pac-12 North and gone on to defeat whomever the South division offered as sacrifice in the conference championship game.

11/02/2014

Well, I suppose now we know that the Ducks do not have a Stanford problem. Oregon's decisive 45-16 victory over the Cardinal proved that and two other things -- first, the Ducks are certainly one of the four best teams in the country and deserving of a spot in the College Football Playoffs, and second, Marcus Mariota is the best collegiate football player in America. It also revealed a few things about the Cardinal, but we'll get to that later. For now, the game.

10/31/2014

Cal is Stanford's traditional rival, and USC might be the opponent that boils the blood more than any team on the schedule, but since 2010 the Oregon game has been the first game I've looked for when the schedules were released each year.

After two nearly identical blowouts (52-31 in 2010 and 53-30 in '11) ruined perfect starts for the Cardinal, Stanford was finally able to turn things around, beating the Ducks 17-14 in 2012 and coming up with their most decisive win in the (recent) series last season, a 26-20 victory that wasn't nearly as close as the score would indicate.

In each of the last four years the winner of the Stanford-Oregon game emerged as the conference champion, and although the Cardinal still face a tough stretch of games after this weekend, it's a good bet that Saturday's winner will again represent the Pac-12 North in the conference championship game, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see that team win the title -- again.

09/19/2014

With no game to look forward to this Saturday, now seems like the perfect time to look at the Cardinal's 2015 schedule, released this week by the Pac-12. Far too many things will happen between now and next fall to predict outcomes of any of the games, but let's take a game-by-game trip through the schedule anyway, just for fun. Oh, and keep this in mind as we go -- the schedule sets up perfectly for a run to the playoffs.

08/30/2014

Back by popular demand -- or, more accurately, by one person's demand -- is GMC's yearly schedule breakdown. Why wait for the games to be played when you can just read on? As usual, I'll give you my thoughts on each game along with the likelihood of a Cardinal victory, but just for fun I've also assigned a different 80s movie to each matchup. It promises to be entertaining...

August 30 vs. UC DavisMovie: The Sure ThingQuote: "I hope you appreciate the magnitude of your impending good fortune."

I don't know the real reason why UC Davis is on the schedule this year, but it might just be to remind Stanford fans how far the program has come. It was nine years ago that Davis somehow beat Stanford, 20-17, in a game that was surely brought up in the halls of the Stanford athletic department as some voices pushed to drop the football program down to Division II. In less than a decade, Stanford football has gone from being one of the worst teams in the country to one of the nation's elite.

As devastating and shocking as that 2005 loss was, I can't imagine that anyone connected with the 2014 Cardinal is thinking about revenge. No one on the team was even out of middle school at that point, and this team has goals much larger than righting a nine-year-old wrong. This game isn't about revenge, it's about finishing without any major injuries.

I can't imagine that we'll see much from the starters after half time, but while they're in there it'll be interesting to see how the offensive line plays and what the running back rotation looks like. In the second half we should get a look at some of the younger players, including Christian McCaffrey, and the second- and third-string quarterbacks. It'll be fun.

Expected Outcome: This is a sure thing. 100% chance of Stanford victory.

11/08/2013

Kevin Hogan played the best game of his career, Tyler Gaffney carried the team on his shoulders, much as Toby Gerhart once did, David Shaw and Mike Bloomgren created and executed a flawless offensive gameplan, and the defense delivered a virtuoso performance as Stanford topped Oregon, 26-20.

How thorough was the domination? Check out these numbers, all huge Cardinal advantages:

Time of possession: 42:34 to 17:26

Yards rushing: 274 to 62

Total yards: 377 to 312

First downs: 26 to 17

Offensive plays: 79 to 58

3rd down efficiency: 14/21 to 3/10

The full GMC recap will be here soon, but for now I'll leave you with this: Stanford is simply better than the Ducks. Suddenly, it appears that Oregon has a Stanford problem. Any thoughts?

11/07/2013

Stanford fans have been looking forward to November 7th since the day the schedule was announced last spring, and the long-awaited showdown is finally here. Yes, the game would've been more attractive if the Cardinal hadn't stubbed their toes against Utah, but when Oregon and Stanford square off tonight in a match up of the two best programs in the Pac-12, two seasons will be defined.

If the Ducks win, they will no doubt skate through the rest of their regular season before slaughtering the lamb from the South in the Pac-12 Championship game (but really, tonight is the de facto Pac-12 Championship game -- don't tell anyone) and quacking off to the National Championship game.

If Stanford wins, the Cardinal will sit at #4 in the BCS standings, perched like a vulture as they wait for two of the teams ahead of them to falter and open up a spot in the final game.

This Oregon team is so scary that I can't bring myself to write much of preview. Instead, I'll let Matt Takimoto have all the fun. Matt writes for an excellent Oregon blog, Addicted To Quack, and he obviously knows his stuff. Check him out...

11/23/2012

This is a must watch for any Stanford fan. Not only was this a great game, it offered redemption for Jordan Williamson. This is one of the best videos the football department has produced, as it focuses on all the team had to overcome to beat Oregon and ends with a great moment featuring Williamson. As the screen fades to black, you might notice some dust getting in your eyes, causing them to water a bit.

GMC Book Club

Over the past several years, GMC readers have donated a total of 402 books to my classroom! My students are always looking for new and exciting books, so if you'd like to contribute, simply click here! Or, click here to read my original post and find out more!